Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight evokes so many images, from its roots in 1968’s Summer of Love, a kind of British Woodstock, to its modern manifestation with its tens of thousands of fans gathered under the English sun, and sometimes, it has to be said, rain. Now news is coming in about the 13-16 June line-up and it could be worth taking a risk with the weather. Paul Weller, The Killers and Emeli Sandé will all be present and correct. And there will also be some blasts from the past… On June 13 there’s the Stone Roses, legendary Mancunians more closely associated with the “Second Summer of Love” of the late Eighties and one of the first acts to try to turn the rock stadium into a dance floor, and vice-versa. Apparently this will be their only summer show, so you’ve been warned. But even more stunning will be the first opportunity to see the re-formed Boomtown Rats live since 1986. The Irish post-punk group is of course led by Bob Geldof, who later achieved worldwide fame with “Band Aid”, the groundbreaking international concert to provide famine relief to Africa.

The Boomtown Rats are famous for, among others, songs like I Don’t Like Mondays, along with the trail they blazed for post-Punk and much, much more…